Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 8 March 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Energy - Ambition and Challenges: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Martin Finucane:
The first question relates to community gain, which is one of the areas we included in the terms and conditions when we went to public consultation just before Christmas. It is something we are looking at in respect of how the system will operate for the offshore wind projects. We are conscious any community benefit payments from offshore projects will be significantly bigger in volume and nature than any of the smaller onshore projects would be. We are looking to put a structure in place so we can ensure the relevant communities would benefit from the large-scale projects as they become operational.